


you're beautiful here

by Bijouu



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Falling In Love, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Slice of Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26593240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bijouu/pseuds/Bijouu
Summary: To Soobin, Yeonjun was like pop hits playing on the radios at storefronts. The noise echoed into the streets, but Soobin couldn’t help but walk in beat. When it was just Yeonjun around, on those still-cold days from winter that melded into humid, spring nights, Soobin could feel the wavelength between them pulse at something free.To Yeonjun, Soobin was something like a ballad, speaking right into his ear and sending the message deep into his chest. When the other became so warm, warmer than the summer nights, when he addressed Yeonjun’s insecurities as they talked to the late night moon, being with Soobin was like slow dancing with his cheek on the other’s shoulder.Inspired by Fromis_9's Feel Good (Secret Code)
Relationships: Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun
Comments: 18
Kudos: 123





	you're beautiful here

**Author's Note:**

  * For [axoctic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/axoctic/gifts).



> Happy birthday, axie! You asked, and I've delivered. Here's to another brilliant year for you. Remember your friend Bijou is cheering for you all the time, on brilliant days and on frustrating days too.
> 
> Follow me on twt @soobimoroll !! Enjoy

**Winter.**

Yeonjun and Soobin first met when their noses were red from the cold and their hands were stuffed into the insulated pockets of their coats. They had mutual friends who were insistent on having some early morning waffles run together, and they all finally had managed a time for both Yeonjun and Soobin to come out along with them. Even though the sky was no longer depositing its soft snow onto the pavement, and even though the wind has relaxed enough for their faces to stop stinging with its icy kisses, the cold bit at their fingers and toes.

When Hueningkai and Beomgyu left Soobin’s side to gather Taehyun into their arms, Soobin and Yeonjun were left standing beside and watching the three behave as if they hadn’t seen each other in years. Perhaps just watching the three of them envelop each other as they did was warm enough to excuse the cold morning.

“You’re Soobin, right?” Yeonjun asked with a little sniffle. It was silly to be having their first meeting be right outside of the waffle café, especially when the maple, syrupy warmth was just one door away. Both Yeonjun and Soobin flinched when Hueningkai managed to wobble over a sneaky patch of ice on the sidewalk. 

“Yeah, nice to meet you, finally,” Soobin smiled. He tried, and failed, to keep a small laugh back when the trio at their side began wobbling together. It seemed like Beomgyu, who was already sliding down the sidewalk and begging the younger two for help, didn’t have proper traction on the bottom of his boots for this kind of weather. 

“Think we can ditch them here and go inside?” Yeonjun asked with a mischievous gleam to his eyes. 

Soobin watched as the three of their friends started to slide and screech their way down the sidewalk, and he groaned in embarrassment. “Yeah, let’s just… get the table already.”

The three youngest told Soobin a lot about Yeonjun. They talked proudly of their hyung, a person who was a powerhouse when it came to hard work and creativity. Soobin knew all about Yeonjun’s greatest achievements and embarrassing moments. He knew that Yeonjun liked ramen and would steal one of their mutual friends on late night runs to some local shops, and how he liked to spend good money on their birthday presents because that was how he liked to show that he cared.

And Yeonjun knew much about Soobin too. Although not the most incredibly outgoing person on the planet, Soobin was all long limbed and comforting, and he liked to duck down into full embraces whenever the younger ones needed it. He hosted various podcasts and had a soothing voice, but Yeonjun knew from the others that Soobin was just as playful as the rest of them were and didn’t mind egging them on sporadic adventures from time to time. That was just the kind of relatable person that Soobin was.

And yet the both of them, sitting at the table they’d snagged for their whole group, were still strangers.

By the time Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Hueningkai had made it into the restaurant and found themselves huddled into the booth, squishing both Soobin and Yeonjun far inside against the window, they were red from their cheeks to their noses. 

“I can’t believe you left me out there with them,” Taehyun mumbled, but even as he ducked his head down, the light smile wouldn’t leave his face.

“It wasn’t my fault, I  _ swear _ ,” Beomgyu insisted, unbothered even as Hueningkai grabbed onto his elbow and began to shake it around. “If Hueningkai didn’t start falling first, then I wouldn’t have lost my balance and tried to grab onto you.”

“Ey, ey, really? It’s not my fault either,” Hueningkai whined over the bickering. 

The noise was comfortable, something that both Soobin and Yeonjun were used to. With the three so focused on each other though, it left the two of them sending apologetic expressions to each other.

Even as the menus were passed out, and their food and drinks were ordered, the two of them, squished on their own sides of the booth, only stole glances from each other from time to time.

Soobin couldn’t help but be a little curious with the stranger across from the table. His eyes were sharp, but the gentleness of his smile made even an introverted soul like Soobin feel more at peace. Though he wasn’t the best at initiating friendships (really, the people he’d acquainted himself with over the years had been introduced to him by Beomgyu and Hueningkai or came with his job), Soobin could be chatty with strangers if he felt like it. 

There was no reason to feel so shy, and he knew that Yeonjun must have known that. Anytime the other did so much as smile Soobin’s way, the more and more he wanted to sink into the booth of the café.

Yeonjun didn’t mean to stare at Soobin, but really, how could he manage to tear his gaze away? From the way that Soobin’s cheeks puffed up as he stole bites from everyone else’s plates, to the way he teased Hueningkai over his spoiled-cutesy, baby talk, Soobin was equally as captivating. 

The only difference was that Yeonjun didn’t bother trying to be subtle, and Soobin failed miserably but still attempted it.

Time passed so slowly for Soobin and Yeonjun, in the company of their favorite people and hot chocolate and coffee and maple syrup. 

Taehyun was the first to complain about the cold, rubbing his palms over his arms as if the friction would somehow ignite a flame in his coat. “I’m turning into an icicle,” he frowned, and both Yeonjun and Soobin fondly laughed at Taehyun’s useless attempts at warmth. “Can we go home?”

Home to Taehyun was of course, wherever Hueningkai and Beomgyu were. It didn’t take a genius to figure out how much love the three of them managed to share. 

“Thanks for finally coming out,” Beomgyu smiled. “The both of you. It only took this long for the five of us to get together!”

“It’s usually my fault,” Yeonjun sheepishly smiled in return, giving both Beomgyu and Soobin a little shrug. “I’ll try to take some days off for this. It was really fun.”

Was Soobin hallucinating, or was that directed toward himself?

It had to have been wishful thinking, right?

“I’ve been stuck at home for some time too,” Soobin said instead, trying to salvage the situation that was happening in his brain. “Mainly because these three like to kill my wallets every time we come out.”

Soobin’s apparent shyness (not shyness, Yeonjun realized, it was just the way he liked to listen and observe), coupled with Soobin’s snarkiness (was it legal for one man to be so witty and playful and challenge Yeonjun as much as he did?) send shivers through Yeonjun’s spine. He was the perfect company to have, especially after the three young ones came for their hugs before carefully waddling down the sidewalk with a still bumbling Beomgyu behind held between them.

When it was their turn to leave, Yeonjun had slipped that time, and Soobin caught him around the arms. The both of them felt their hearts hammer in their chest. “Haha, sorry about that,” Yeonjun nervously laughed, holding Soobin by the elbows so he could prop himself up. “Maybe the sun melted some of the snow, I swear I have better balance than this.”

“As long as you don’t go sliding down the pavement,” Soobin teased, blinking in surprise to see that it was Yeonjun this time, who was flushed pink and looking sheepish. Perhaps what he’d felt wasn’t so one sided after all. “You won’t trip on your way home, will you?”

“I won’t,” Yeonjun promised with a click of his tongue. “If you’re so concerned about it, maybe you should walk me there.”

“Afraid no one will catch you again, huh?” Soobin fake frowned and shook his head. He didn’t know what it was that made him linger for so long, especially when Hueningkai, Taehyun, and Beomgyu had already been on their way. He supposed maybe they assumed Soobin and Yeonjun would part quickly as well.

But the two of them weren’t keen on letting go.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s not me that’ll fall,” Yeonjun laughed through his nose. “We can just hang out until it becomes a reasonable hour of the day again.”

Leave it to their feelings, the way they walked closely together, as if they were never strangers to begin with. All over one breakfast together, with small conversations and just swaying with their friend’s tides, Yeonjun and Soobin together figured that they had much to learn about each other. 

Learning about each other was an easy dance that the both of them made with their linked elbows, and walking side by side on the slippery sidewalks, laughing whenever they slid around and purposely skating down long patches of ice just for the hell of it. The music in their voices hung in the air just like their cold breaths did, and they didn’t think twice about stopping by street vendors for hot snacks to take with them to Yeonjun’s place.

Even with the morning passing slowly, so, so slow, Yeonjun and Soobin felt it stretch on as if they’d known each other over lifetimes.

**Spring.**

What was it about Yeonjun that had Soobin feeling like he was being dipped this way and that? 

He could almost imagine the other’s hands supporting him as they span around the days together. The natural rhythm that they called companionship rang in pretty tones, and even on days that their other three friends couldn’t make it to hang out, it would just be the two of them trying and failing to intimidate each other while playing games on Soobin’s Nintendo Switch. 

Being around Yeonjun was like pop hits playing on the radios at storefronts. The noise echoed into the streets, but Soobin couldn’t help but walk in beat. When it was just Yeonjun around, on those still-cold days from winter that melded into humid, spring nights, Soobin could feel the wavelength between them pulse at something free.

It just felt so good.

“You wanna see?” Yeonjun asked, turning his phone toward Soobin when they were sitting on the couch. “It’s a nice picture, isn’t it?” 

Soobin craned his head up from where he was, half laying against the couch’s armrest. “Huh?”

“The selca I uploaded onto instagram. Did you even see it?”

Sheepishly, Soobin played with the edge of one of the couch cushions. “To be honest, I’m hardly on Instagram these days. Show me though?”

And it was a nice picture. Yeonjun was just as refreshing as a summer hit, glowing in confidence from his head to his toes. Every accessory, even the most simplest of graphic tees, looked like they were being modeled by some kind of celebrity. “Wow, hyung. Are you trying to steal everyone’s brand deals with this?”

Yeonjun seemed pleased with the praise, unable to help the smirk on his lips as he simply handed Soobin his own phone to continue to look. “Oh, me though? If you uploaded pictures on the regular, I’m sure everyone would be flocking to your posts.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Soobin snorted, looking through more of Yeonjun’s user page. 

“I’ll put it this way, Soobin-ah, so listen to my wise words,” Yeonjun pompously announced, holding his hand out for his phone again. 

Soobin carefully handed it over with an amused, yet cautious laugh. “Go on, share your wisdom then.”

Yeonjun pretended to hold his phone up and snatch pictures of Soobin, to which Soobin stammered, reaching out for Yeonjun’s phone again, even as the elder held it behind the couch and out of reach. Only when Soobin was already hanging half off of the couch and half over Yeonjun did Yeonjun turn and show his blank screen toward the now pouty Soobin.

“God has his favorites,” Yeonjun concluded, watching Soobin’s pink expression carefully. “Anyone would be jealous to be as precious as you.”

Even after it was time for Yeonjun to leave, after they’d eaten and had enough energy in themselves to screech at each other over another game of smash, Soobin could remember the sincerity in Yeonjun’s eyes when he’d said that. The smile on Yeonjun’s face wasn’t as teasing as it tended to be. When Soobin was washing the dishes later that night, he gripped the sponge tightly, feeling the rhythm of his heartbeat from his fingers all the way into his toes.

It just made him want to dance.

Soobin knew that Yeonjun was popular with people. He had an extensive friend group, though not too many of them were close, per say. It had been months of them spending most of their time with each other though - did Soobin really count as a friend now? As an acquaintance? 

Yeonjun was as confusing as a page of unknown music, the notes sending messages into Soobin’s head whenever the other would lean in close and whisper something to him. It was the way that Yeonjun pinched at his cheek and neck and ears, like he couldn’t get enough of feeling how soft Soobin’s skin was. Even if Soobin shied away, Yeonjun followed into his space and for once in his lifetime, Soobin didn’t mind that someone was in it. 

“I’ve been getting a bunch of these comments on my posts now,” Yeonjun had commented through a pout one night. It was past midnight, but neither of them had been able to sleep. It was easy for them to meet in the middle, at some mom and pop ramen joint just in between their apartment complexes. The owners knew them well enough by now to sneak in extra side dishes as if Yeonjun and Soobin didn’t notice and tip them extra for it.

“Oh show me,” Soobin gestured with his hand, and Yeonjun comfortably handed over the phone. They were comfortable enough, trusted each other to know that they wouldn’t go snooping around. “Wow. You have fans now, Yeonjunnie hyung. Will you remember me when you get famous?”

Yeonjun laughed with his whole chest, and Soobin grinned around another mouthful of ramen noodles. This late, it was just the two of them sharing the counter top, so being loud wasn’t an issue. 

As Soobin continued to flutter through the comments, Yeonjun leaned in close against his elbow. “Look, they’re asking to come into my DMs, Soobinnie,” he said, pointing out a few comments here and there. “This person’s actually kind of cute…”

“I don’t think they’re your type.”

Both Yeonjun and Soobin had paused, blinking at Soobin’s irrational outburst. He could feel his ears turning red, and he tried to play it off with a dumb shrug. “Yeah. I don’t know. Isn’t it um- hard? To make connections over the internet like that in the first place?”

Yeonjun seemed to study Soobin for some time, even after Soobin had gestured for Yeonjun to get on and finish his ramen before it got cold. Even though the two of them became a little quiet as they ate, Soobin felt like his veins were alive with energy. In the soundless ramen place, Soobin’s ears rang with the weight of his words, even when he argued with Yeonjun on being the one to pay for their late dinner.

Just as much as Soobin was on edge for having said something so impulsively like that, the soft lull of the night was like a lullaby between them. When they left the small restaurant, completely full and warm and sated, Soobin felt like he could barely keep his eyes open. “I can lay down right here and sleep,” he sighed, winding his arm around Yeonjun’s elbow.

Despite being taller than Yeonjun, Soobin didn’t mind having the comfort again like this, leaning a little onto the other’s shoulder. The two of them, walking side by side because the company was just a little bit nicer than the quiet and silence. 

“Hey, can you make it home like this?” Yeonjun frowned, stopping and waiting for the light on the crosswalk to change. Usually, they’d part ways just after that. “What made you so sleepy, Soobinnie?”

Soobin wasn’t so sure himself. Maybe it was playing the game with Yeonjun that had sucked all the energy out of him. Maybe it was dancing that fine line between this or that, that Soobin himself wasn’t so sure how to define. Yeonjun made him blush, he made his heart race. Was that normal for just two friends to have between them? 

“It’s like a ten minute walk,” Soobin reassured. “I’m sleepy, but I can make it. God… what time is it already?”

“Way past your bedtime, that’s what time it is,” Yeonjun frowned. When the light turned, they quickly crossed the street.

Yeonjun should have said goodbye by then. They shouldn’t have loitered there on the empty sidewalk. It smelled like spring rain would come again soon, but their feet didn’t bother to move. Soobin didn’t know what to do, if he should have been the one to say something first, about how the both of them shuffled around like dumb teenagers.

“My place is a little closer, if you just want to spend the night? It’s gotta be like two A.M already,” Soobin suggested, hiding his mouth behind yet another yawn. It was Yeonjun, he’d concluded, who had made him feel so comfortable that it made him drowsy. He wouldn’t mind having their arms intertwined for another ten minutes of their late night dinner. 

“Maybe that’s a good idea,” Yeonjun had sighed, taking Soobin’s elbow again. He must have been a little more awake than Soobin was, considering that Soobin hardly remembered being guided into the apartment complex and slowly up the steps onto the third floor. They’d barely made it inside the apartment before they were dragging their feet right to Soobin’s bed, falling asleep on top of the blankets without bothering to change into pajamas or brush their teeth.

Their feet fell in line with each other, yet another rhythm in Soobin’s mind. He wondered why it was; he just wanted Yeonjun by his side.

Yeonjun was a complicated person, Soobin learned. Late in the morning, when it was practically almost noon and Yeonjun had woken up first, he’d poked and prodded at Soobin’s cheek to get the other awake to start their day. The two of them wandered around the apartment, opening the windows so the fresh spring air could come in. Sleepily, Soobin took a spray bottle to his many desk plants, much to Yeonjun’s amusement.

“By the way,” Yeonjun said, making himself at home, using Soobin’s coffee machine. “What do you think my type is?” 

Soobin stood up straight from where he was, rubbing his fingers gently on one of the palm plants. “Your type?” he repeated, remembering his mess up from the previous night. 

Yeonjun watched Soobin confidently, probably a little too confidently. “Yeah, what’s my type? You said the person wasn’t my type.”

Thinking about the many times that Yeonjun had made Soobin flush, how he’d made Soobin cover his face in embarrassment and how the flustered feeling sent Soobin’s pulse roaring in his ears, Soobin laughed through his nose. “Honestly, hyung? I’ll let you figure that one out on your own.”

Soobin regretted setting that silent challenge between him and Yeonjun ever since the words came out of his mouth. 

It felt like their days were never spent just one or another, but together. The two of them, dancing through the week in each other’s company, had become commonplace for them. Their friends hadn’t expected it either, and they especially didn’t expect for Soobin to peel himself away from his personal shell, just to follow on their little adventures and nights out.

Yeonjun was a complicated person, with many different faces that he saved for certain people.

When they were with Yeonjun’s friends, or ran into his colleagues, even to the self that he liked to broadcast onto twitter and instagram, like he was proud and living life to the best possible second, Soobin, who wore his heart on his sleeve as he did, steadily chipped at the other’s mask.

On nights where Yeonjun was simply too exhausted to do anything but play some shitty netflix movies and fall asleep right there on the couch, Soobin didn’t mind just being his company. Yeonjun was as vibrant as a pop song, as energetic and bubbly as one, but he was the soothing bassline behind every good track. And sometimes, he needed support.

“If you want to know more about me,” Yeonjun had sleepily said once, face smooshed into the couch’s armrest, “You’ll have to pay attention. The ‘me’ that no one really knows… why do I feel like you already do?”

Soobin rested his chin in his hand, smiling fondly, even as the other had completely fallen asleep halfway through the movie. There were no words that needed to be said. Even if Yeonjun wasn’t singing a thing, Soobin would still dance to its melody.

Late into spring, when it had become sticky and hot outside, teetering on the beginning of summer and its crazy, stormy season, the five friends found themselves late into the night at a karaoke room. 

Song after song, they all laughed, curling over each others’ laps as if there was nothing else that felt this amazing in the world. Soobin caught himself wiping some tears of laughter after some metal rendition of a ballad that Beomgyu and Hueningkai had attempted, coupled with some trot-trap remix of some old song that was scarily, perfectly executed by Taehyun soon afterward. 

Between all the appetizers and sweet foods, and the cola and curly straws, Soobin and Yeonjun could feel nothing but the night’s music and joy.

They tried to pass Soobin the mic, but he shook his head, even as they pulled him up from the room’s couch. “No seriously, I just like to watch,” he said around a mouthful of whatever thing he was snacking on just before his abrupt showtime. It wasn’t that Soobin was shy, but that he enjoyed sitting back and watching everyone have fun.

“We didn’t rent this room so that  _ someone _ could skip on singing,” Beomgyu had huffed, forcibly taking the mic and wrapping Soobin’s long fingers around it himself. “Just one song, hyung. You don’t even have to do it seriously. Hey, you want me to sing with you?”

Soobin had only rolled his eyes. Soobin was confident enough in his voice, but knew that they weren’t here to compete with one another. It was just all in good fun, as all of their gatherings tended to be. “Come on, you guys are just teasing me now,” Soobin said with an exaggerated sigh, swatting Beomgyu away. 

Beomgyu sat himself right between Hueningkai and Taehyun again, and the three of them began to fuss over the song book to decide what to do after Soobin’s song.

“You’re free here,” Yeonjun smiled loosely holding Soobin around the waist. “You can do what you want, right? Don’t be nervous. Oh hey- this one! I love this one! Taehyun-ah, give me the mic, I’m doing this song with Soobin.”

If Yeonjun just knew that it wasn’t the whole singing thing that was making his heart and mind beat to their own silent song, as if it wasn’t the way that Yeonjun’s hand rested comfortably and warm on his side like that that was giving him butterflies in his stomach. 

Soobin couldn’t be nervous, not when Yeonjun held his hand. 

They stood so close together that when they danced and swayed, their shoulders bounced into each other at its rhythm and their clasped hands became squished behind their backs, like a comfortable shield from their friends’ eyes. The three on the couch put their hands up in the air, chanting the words along with Yeonjun and Soobin, who was grinning so wide that his cheeks were beginning to hurt.

The light was multicolored and bright. The sounds of pretty pop bounced right off the walls, and Soobin could hear it in Yeonjun’s laughter. When they were exhausted out of their minds, and their throats were raw after singing for hours on end, Hueningkai, Taehyun, and Beomgyu had suggested one last song to end the night. All of them were on their feet, bouncing around the room like there were no worries inside the room, preciously tucked their insecurities like shoes outside the door. 

Then, when the music was still loud and their voices were barely audible over the noise, Yeonjun confessed it with bright eyes, smiling so wide that his eyes crinkled into little crescents and showed off his pretty front teeth. “I like it,” he laughed, holding Soobin’s hands and dancing around with them in the warm room. “When you look at me like that, I like it.”

Soobin wished that they could stay that way, dancing from spring into summer.

**Summer.**

It’s like the seasons carried a tune with them. Yeonjun used to hate the sound of cicadas buzzing on the trees, but it became more bearable when Soobin was there to comment on the noise. Sometimes, Soobin’s long rambles would drown it out completely, and it was the silence and hum of Soobin’s lovely voice that would put Yeonjun to peace. 

The two of them had become a little braver. It felt like they were holding hands, dancing through the waves of the ocean. The pull in toward the shore, out to the sea, the swaying that they sometimes did when they joked and laughed and picked at each other’s nerves just for the hell of it was something that Yeonjun hadn’t yet experienced with Soobin until then.

To Yeonjun, Soobin was something like a ballad, speaking right into his ear and sending the message deep into his chest. When the other became so warm, warmer than the summer nights, when he addressed Yeonjun’s insecurities as they talked to the late night moon, being with Soobin was like slow dancing with his cheek on the other’s shoulder.

Yeonjun’s life had felt so busy before he’d met Soobin, and then suddenly time decided to slow and let Yeonjun treasure each day. It was like they were dancing around the moon and enchanting it, making it stay high in the sky even when it was noontime. Everywhere they went, Yeonjun and Soobin would open another enchanted door over their minds and hearts, and the connection felt vivid and colorful. When they swayed, it was like they understood each other.

That was what Yeonjun loved the most about Soobin.

After working as hard as they did during the semester, their little pack of friends decided a vacation was in order. They scraped up some money that they had been saving to stay at a beachside water park for a couple of days. 

They rented a car and Yeonjun drove them with the windows down. They left early in the morning, and the coolness of the air felt nice despite the summer’s sun and humidity. Soobin sat at the front passenger seat, swatting Hueningkai’s hands whenever the youngest reached forward to try and steal sips from Yeonjun and Soobin’s sodas. “You have your own!” Soobin pouted, flapping his hand at Hueningkai’s forearm until the other shrieked and pulled away.

“Mine isn’t as tasty,” Hueningkai complained, victoriously sitting back into his seat with Soobin’s soda in his hands. “You can have mine, you know I like this flavor more…”

Yeonjun watched through the rear view mirror, at the pout on Hueningkai’s face, but the mischievous glint in the youngest’s eyes said he didn’t actually feel bad for messing with Soobin and taking his drink. He laughed once through his nose.

“It’s okay, Soobin-ah, just take from mine. I’m going to be busy driving anyways,” Yeonjun smiled, resting his left arm on the window. There were enough people vacationing that the highway was full, but not crowded. They would probably make it to the resort in a few hours. He’d tossed his phone on Soobin’s lap, earlier in the drive, and Soobin sifted through the songs.

The wind drowned out most of the beats from the pop songs that Soobin played, but Soobin leaned on one arm during the drive, sitting with one leg bent as if there wasn’t a care in the world. That was Yeonjun’s favorite song; he couldn’t help but want to dance. When Soobin sang, Yeonjun tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, for once just wanting to listen instead of singing along.

To Yeonjun, Soobin’s presence there was a rich feeling in his chest. He was an energetic melody line, he was a rhythm that Yeonjun wanted to follow and follow. Even when Soobin had fallen asleep for a little bit, and Yeonjun had rolled the windows up and turned the music down so that everyone else in the car could have their naps, Yeonjun hummed alongside the chimes in his heart.

The parking lot was understandably full, and Yeonjun had no choice but to park their car some distance from the check in. It wouldn’t have been an issue, Yeonjun thought, looking through the rearview mirror. The three in the backseat were all leaning to the left, stacked on each others’ shoulders like they were never meant to be separated, and sleeping with their mouths open. 

He couldn’t help but be a little fond of his friends. They were his support system for all these years, and although Soobin was a more recent addition to his close-friends list, well…

Soobin pouted in his sleep, cheek smooshed up with his palm as he drowsily began to push himself off of the center console, getting up and stretching his back forward just like a cat. Even something as simple as that had Yeonjun’s heart squeezing in his chest.

“Have a nice nap?” Yeonjun snickered, ruffling Soobin’s messy, slept-in fringe. 

Soobin had only grunted with a nod, fishing down under his chair to find the shoes he’d kicked off some time earlier. “We just get here?” He asked, voice deep and groggy.

Precious.

“Yeah,” Yeonjun lamely answered, unbuckling his seatbelt and turning the car off. Already, the heat and humidity from the summer air was making Yeonjun’s forehead sweat, and he resolved to thinking that the sooner everyone got checked in, the sooner they’d be able to go and eat something under the sweet, sweet air conditioned patios.

Soobin moved like water, like everything was graceful and not so graceful at the same time. He pulled the back door open and snorted when Taehyun’s head nearly lolled out of it. “Wakey wakey,” Soobin said, though obviously still quite sleepy himself. He’d managed to get Hueningkai and Taehyun out of the car, but Beomgyu stubbornly pulled his feet up onto the seat as if he could sleep for a few minutes more.

“Hey, BG, any time now,” Yeonjun laughed, opening up Beomgyu’s door and lightly smacking his palm on the other’s sternum. Beomgyu’s fluffy head of hair shot up, obviously still groggy from his long nap. “Can you grab the cooler?” 

Beomgyu smacked his lips together and stretched his arms over his head before nodding, and Yeonjun left him at that. At the back of the car, he watched as Taehyun tried to stack bags on top of a suitcase, much to Hueningkai’s amusement.

“We can make it one trip,” Taehyun said, huffing when he pulled on the too-heavy suitcase. “This is nothing. I’ll take it, as long as we don’t have to walk all the way back here again.”

Yeonjun looked down the parking lot, at the resort in the distance. The sun was especially strong, and it was making his skin feel prickly with heat already. “As much as I’d like to make it in one trip…”

“I got it,” Hueningkai said, clapping his hands once together. “We rock-paper-scissors who has to run to the lobby and get one of those pulley carts. Okay? Loser has to run, and I mean  _ run _ .”

“With your luck, you’re going to lose, Kai,” Soobin scoffed, helping Beomgyu pull their cooler out of the trunk. 

“I’ll just carry this mess,” Yeonjun shrugged, moving Taehyun’s arms off of his oddly stacked creation. He tugged on it a few times, testing how the wheels of the suitcase on the very bottom handled the weight of the bags. The sun beat down on them the more that they waited around at the back of the car. “You guys can go ahead and get us checked in. I’m not going to be fast, pulling this thing.”

The three youngest didn’t need to be told twice, already picking up their bags and waddling through the hot parking lot to the oasis of a lobby far ahead. Soobin hesitated though, pulling the trunk to the car closed with a little sigh. That was their tune again, the dance between the both of them just left alone, and Yeonjun felt as if it were only getting warmer. He pulled the sleeves of his shirt up onto his shoulders in hopes that it’d help with the heat. 

“What, are you trying to be some tough man?” Soobin snorted, crossing his arms. One of the two backpacks that Soobin was carrying slid down his forearm at the movement. “Do you just wanna show off in front of me, Yeonjunnie hyung?”

Yeonjun felt his neck flush with heat. When did Soobin become this brave? He scoffed, tugging on the strange stack of bags again. “I was just overheating, thanks, but if you really want this to be your show, I’ll just take off the whole shirt next time.”

That seemed to get Soobin to quit his teasing. He shut his mouth and huffed, waiting for Yeonjun to lock the car before the two of them began their rather slow walk to the lobby. This was just fine, the silence between the both of them. They were too hot and tired to speak, and dragging around the luggage wasn’t so terrible as much as it was just an inconvenience of being over prepared.

Yeonjun tried not to preen too much when he saw Soobin sneak peeks at him, for whatever unspoken reason.

Instead of going to eat like Yeonjun thought they would, the five of them settled on bundling themselves in one of the suites and ordering food. Yeonjun didn’t mind, not with Soobin tossing himself over Yeonjun’s shoulder at anything funny that happened. When he laughed, he liked to grab onto the nearest thing, and Yeonjun didn’t mind feeling Soobin’s hands holding onto his shoulders, clinging as if he was the only one keeping Soobin grounded.

Yeonjun laughed too, keeping a hand on Soobin’s knee, rubbing his hand over the soft skin almost mindlessly. It was comfortable for the both of them to be this way; in each other’s space, nothing could go wrong.

It was already late by the time they’d put everything away and explored the floors of the resort that the five of them decided to hike it to the beach and dig their toes into the sand and water, if only for a little bit. The sun was setting just enough to cast them all in golden light, and they held onto their sandals as they waded through and splashed each other as if there weren’t a single care in the world aside from that moment.

And later, when the sun had set and the cooler summer night, they retreated up the shore to steal one of the resort’s bonfires and towels, sitting under the moon like they were being watched over by her. Yeonjun watched Soobin shiver, which made sense considering that Soobin was basically everyone’s target during their water fight earlier. His hair still dripped salt water onto his shoulders, and Yeonjun scooted closer on their shared chair, wrapping his towel around Soobin too. 

No one commented on their closeness, not when Yeonjun and Soobin were too caught up in their own world. Yeonjun laughed, shaking out some water from Soobin’s hair and leaving it sticking up in this way and that. “Huh, aren’t you cute and scruffy,” he teased right after, though his eyes were dripping with fondness.

This close, Yeonjun didn’t mind messing with Soobin, and he knew that it made Soobin’s heart flutter a little bit too, when Yeonjun leaned into blow kisses at Soobin. When the other covered his embarrassed face with his hands, that was when Yeonjun knew he’d won. 

Besides, it was just nice to see Soobin all smiley and gentle as he was. It made Yeonjun happy, whenever Soobin’s naturally low voice came up so high into his laughs, when he pitched forward across Yeonjun’s lap and stomped his feet when he was happy. Yeonjun just wanted Soobin to be happy like this forever.

Yeonjun kept his arm close around Soobin’s hip, lazily tossed there but comfortable in his mind. He wanted Soobin to keep by his side.

“This is kind of like a paradise,” Yeonjun had sighed, once the excitement had died down, and they were once again ready to leave their safe space in front of the fire. They needed to rinse themselves free of the beach’s sand before trekking through the resort lobby, just out of politeness for the housekeepers. “We should do this again.”

Soobin hugged Yeonjun's arm as they walked together, watching Hueningkai, Taehyun, and Beomgyu who were walking side by side, up ahead of them. “A paradise, huh?” He hummed.

Yeonjun didn’t imagine the pressure around his arm when Soobin held on sweetly, just a little tighter. When they walked side by side like that, their hips and shoulders bumped into each other, like the two of them were dancing together under the moon’s watch. It’s like they were dancing together for the first time, sloppy but fun, and the music rang off the chambers in Yeonjun’s heart, almost dangerously so. 

The following day, the five of them decided to check out the actual water park part of the resort. With their sandals in hand, and this time, with the proper clothes and sunblock on, they found themselves climbing high slides and purposely dragging each other out further into the wave pool. 

“If you grab me one more time, I swear to god!” Soobin screamed, splashing his hands down onto the water’s surface in frustration, much to the youngests’ delight. 

“You’re over six feet tall, just put your feet on the floor!”

“I  _ am _ !” Soobin huffed, squeezing his eyes shut as another wave came over all of their heads. And just as it did, both Taehyun and Hueningkai were at Soobin’s side again, clinging onto his elbows so as to not be swept away. “I’m not your pool floatie, let go of me, I keep drinking the water! Ugh- Yeonjunnie hyung!”

Yeonjun, who was bouncing on both of his feet to keep his head up, had rolled his eyes, peeling both Hueningkai and Taehyun off of Soobin. “Kai, can’t you touch the floor too?” Yeonjun asked, as Hueningkai settled on holding around Yeonjun’s shoulders instead.

“Mmm.. yeah,” the youngest cheekily grinned. 

Needless to say, Yeonjun purposely let go of Taehyun and Hueningkai when the next wave came up over their heads. 

After enough rides on the water slides and getting pummeled by the wave pool, Hueningkai had exhausted his energy completely, and Soobin, Beomgyu, and Yeonjun hugged Hueningkai goodbye as he was helped up to the room by Taehyun. 

Even just resting like this, the leftover Choi boys sat on the poolside loungers and sipped on some water as if it’d take the taste of the pool’s chlorine out of their mouths. “I’m hungry,” Beomgyu had announced, leaning back into his chair as if he had the final say in the situation. Both Soobin and Yeonjun watched with similar amused expressions.

“Rock-paper-scissors and loser goes to get snacks?” Soobin suggested, rolling up his non-existent sleeves. “Come on. Don’t be afraid in the presence of the world champion here.”

Both Yeonjun and Beomgyu scoffed, pushing Soobin’s shoulder, to which Soobin went wide eyed in surprise. “What? What? Hey- hurry up, or else Beomgyu’s going to die of starvation.”

Needless to say, Yeonjun ended up losing, but he didn’t mind it at all. “Alright, whatever, don’t brag,” He’d fake pouted when Soobin and Beomgyu held onto each others’ shoulders, rocking themselves back and forth in their little victory bundle. Yeonjun thought the sound of their laughs together was one of the brightest chimes in life.

Actually, maybe Soobin’s laugh was the clearest noise he’d ever heard. He quickly slipped his feet back into his sandals, going to one of the snack stands and grabbing whatever looked delicious and inexpensive. It was probably less than ten minutes since he’d gone, but when Yeonjun returned, both Soobin and Beomgyu were reclined on their seats, pretending to hallucinate from starvation. 

“So what’s all this about?” Soobin laughed, putting his elbows onto his knees as he watched Yeonjun set down his most recent snack-run onto the table. When he’d gotten to the stand, he noticed there were sandwiches, chips, and other things, but this one stuck out like a sore thumb. It couldn’t have been more than a few inches tall, and the three of them could probably finish it in a couple bites each, which meant it was perfect for a sweet snack.

“Got something bad to say about this cake? It was just cheap, and it looks cute. So we’re going to celebrate,” Yeonjun shrugged, picking his eyes up to meet Soobin looking at him and not at the cake at all.

Beomgyu barked out a laugh, slapping his hands onto his thighs as if it was the funniest thing in the world. “I’m not judging! Ay, YJ, you really outdo yourself each time.”

“And what’s this thing that we’re going to celebrate,” Soobin curiously asked, fishing around the little bag that came with the cake. He victoriously pulled out forks and passed them around.

What were they going to celebrate? 

Yeonjun thought about it for a little bit while Beomgyu and Soobin already started to take small bites out of the mini cake. “I don’t know,” he sighed, leaning forward to take a bite of his own. 

“Don’t worry hyung,” Soobin smiled around the fork in his mouth. It was like second nature for him, the way he brushed under Yeonjun’s chin with his fingers. “Every day and night is a celebration with you.”

Finally at a loss for words, Yeonjun stammered, taking another bite of the cake for himself while Beomgyu practically rolled over their laps laughing at Yeonjun’s red face. He tried to keep his eyes down, knowing that if he met Soobin’s proud expression, or that light smirk on his plush lips, it would make his heart thump ridiculously fast in his chest. Yes, Choi Soobin was a brave one, and Yeonjun had to give it to him for finally rendering him speechless.

The embarrassment was worse, when Beomgyu animatedly told everyone else about what had happened later that evening. “You wouldn’t believe how quickly he turned red,” Beomgyu snorted, pointing a fork haphazardly at Yeonjun. 

Yeonjun groaned, rolling his head around his shoulders. “Come on, I just wasn’t expecting it,” he tried to defend himself.

“People say stuff like that to you all the time,” Taehyun added, looking between Yeonjun and Soobin as if understanding something about the both of them that Yeonjun still didn’t want to acknowledge. Hueningkai made a whining kind of noise, teasing the redness on Yeonjun’s face. 

“He probably wasn’t expecting me to say it. Hyung bit off more than he could chew this time. I sounded cool right, Beomgyu?” 

Despite being teased, and despite Yeonjun pretending to be unaffected by the way their eyes had been on the red of his ears, under the table, Soobin put a comforting hand on Yeonjun’s knee and gave it a light squeeze. Though his smile was somewhat apologetic, Yeonjun couldn’t see past the unapologetic joy in Soobin’s controlled grin. 

Yeonjun didn’t mind keeping Soobin’s hand in his own, under the table. It felt just like the both of them were tuned into the same station, sharing a song just between the two of them like their intertwined fingers were a personal line between them. Yeonjun could hear it, he could feel the song’s beats through the easy little wiggles of Soobin’s long fingers.

It made him just want to dance. Yeonjun just wanted to sing along to it too, and he hoped Soobin could feel it, his call and response through their easy palms.

When they had their fill of the resort’s arcade and the ice cream stand somewhere on the lobby floor, Soobin and Yeonjun were laying in their room, tired and smiley, and full of life. To Yeonjun, it felt like even the summer night was singing for them, and all they’d been doing for the past hour and a half was be silently in each others’ company.

Yeonjun took peeks at Soobin often. He had the gentlest, sloped nose, and when he concentrated hard enough on his phone, Soobin pouted, turning his head this way and that.

Soobin was the type of person who smiled and made the world fall in love with him.

“Wanna go swimming?” Yeonjun asked, rolling onto his stomach. As they lay on the bed, Yeonjun craned his head to see what Soobin was doing on his phone, scrunching his nose when he saw some kind of random Youtube video on the screen. “It’s too early to go to bed.”

“So you want to go swimming,” Soobin deadpanned, setting his phone down to mess around with Yeonjun’s hair. It hadn’t been dyed in some time, but the bleached ends had been eating up the chlorine like crazy. “Is the pool still open? I think I drank so much water already from the wave pool earlier… God, It’s like I can still taste it,” he grumbled with a fake shiver.

Yeonjun laughed, turning onto his back instead and reaching up to poke at Soobin’s cheeks. “Not the water park pool, just the resort pool. The one where old people go to sit in the spa and relax, Soobinnie.”

“I don’t know about you,” Soobin lightly laughed, “But I’m not sure seeing old people at a pool is something I wanted on my vacation?”

“Hey, hey,” Yeonjun pouted, pushing himself up from the bed. “It’s like eleven. Don’t old people go to bed at like eight?”

That must have been a good enough argument for Soobin, because the two of them found themselves at the resort pool only minutes later. “Wait, wait wait,” Yeonjun quickly said, tossing his pool towel onto one of the chairs. It wasn’t after hours, but there wasn't anyone else there. It was just them, the pool, and the empty spa at the end of it out there, under the stars. 

It truly felt like the moon was singing for them that night, as Yeonjun handed Soobin his phone and posed a little bit by the pool’s edge. “Can you take this photo for me? I’m trying to make an album together for all of us.”

That much was true, Yeonjun had been sneakily taking candid photos of his friends’ smiles, thinking that it’d be something fun for them to look back on. He wasn’t too sentimental of a person, but he knew Beomgyu and Soobin tended to be, and that Hueningkai and Taehyun just liked to reflect on the past for the joy of it. “I’ll caption it something cute. ‘Everyone’s favorite hyung takes over the poolside.’”

Soobin laughed, tossing his head back like he couldn’t believe what Yeonjun had just said. “I’m not going to be your accomplice, hyung,” he giggled, the motion making the dimples of his cheeks look as deep as the ocean. “Come here.”

There was too much bravery that Yeonjun didn’t want to dream too much about, in the way that Soobin gathered Yeonjun to his side and held up Yeonjun’s phone. He barely had time to sneak in a peace sign before Soobin had snapped a picture of them. It felt like a million years long, but had only finished in a second.

“You’re beautiful here,” Soobin had said, turning the phone toward Yeonjun to see. “Just the way you… just… yeah. Um- ahaha!” It was as if the confidence quickly drained from his body, and Soobin nervously laughed, the sound ringing sweetly in Yeonjun’s ears.

Yeonjun took his phone from Soobin’s hands, locked it, and carelessly tossed it onto the chair too, laughing at Soobin’s flustered expression. “Oh my god,” he laughed, grabbing Soobin by the wrists and walking him to the pool. “Oh my god, we’re so bad at this.”

“Wait,  _ we’re _ so bad at this?” Soobin incredulously laughed, threatening to shove Yeonjun into the water, but all the older did was laugh and let go of Soobin’s hands, already jumping in. “Hey! I’m not done with you, Yeonjun hyung!” 

Soobin had chased Yeonjun around the shallow end of the pool, but Yeonjun kept dancing away from him, tiptoeing in the water. Yeonjun loved that sound; he loved hearing Soobin call for him from far away, call for him when he was nearby and just centimeters apart.

“Soobinnie,” Yeonjun had said, when they were finally done acting like silly teenagers. The two of them rested on the steps to the pool, letting water come up over their shoulders so they wouldn’t get too cold under the night’s air. 

“Yeonjunnie hyung,” Soobin had replied, kicking out his feet in front of him, just to watch the ripples in the water. It made the lights on the bottom of the pool ripple too, making shadows in the water that didn’t feel scary at all to yeonjun. 

They didn’t need to say anything, the both could just feel it. They rode the same wavelength, they could hear the same song calling from the waves of the ocean. Soobin was just like a lullaby, like Yeonjun could close his eyes and rely on the other’s sound. He was as gentle as an acoustic guitar, but his noise filled the chamber of Yeonjun’s mind, and the echoing noise in his skull’s performance hall only wanted to sing about Soobin some more. 

“Yeonjun hyung?” Soobin repeated, watching Yeonjun carefully that time.

Yeonjun opened his eyes; he hadn’t even realized they’d closed. “That sounds really pretty,” he sighed. 

“What does?” Soobin asked, curiously, subconsciously or not, leaning into Yeonjun’s space.

“When you say my name.”

**Autumn.**

Every day was like meeting a brand new version of themselves. Even the rainy days felt like bright blue. Even the stormy feelings, the days stuck at home and cooped up, swamped with work, felt a little more manageable. It was nice to know; Yeonjun and Soobin just felt good as they did, supporting each other because they knew how it felt to be alone, and they knew just how much better it felt to know they had each other. 

There wasn’t a time where Soobin wanted to be away from Yeonjun’s side, but even when they were, it didn’t feel too long at all. It felt as if the universe were watching them and shortened their time apart, but when they were together, it felt like lifetimes and lifetimes.

Yeonjun had dragged Soobin out of his apartment on one rainy day. It was already getting cold out, and the golden leaves were sticking to the grey concrete, plastered there by the rain overhead. It wasn’t pouring like it usually did at this time of the year, but it was enough to warrant an umbrella.

When it was the two of them around, when Yeonjun was there to blow kisses in his direction or hold onto his cold hand, Soobin’s heart wanted to sing. “We can splash in puddles a little bit,” Yeonjun said, taking Soobin on their regular walk to the ramen shop. “I wore my old boots just so we could play around in the rain a little.” 

Because of their umbrellas, the two of them couldn’t walk linked around each other’s arms or leaning on each others’ shoulders as they’d taken to doing, but sometimes their umbrellas bumped together, and that was enough for Soobin to feel satisfied.

“If you splash me, I’m going to splash you back,” Soobin warned with a raised eyebrow, watching as Yeonjun turned around to find a good puddle or two as they waited for the crosswalk’s light to change color. Who was Soobin to not join in on the fun too?

He nudged Yeonjun out of the way, finding the best puddles, if just to push Yeonjun’s buttons a little bit. They had become so caught up in their mini war that they didn’t realize the light had changed, and the two of them started bolting across the street with less than ten seconds to make it across.

Once they were safely on the other wise and wet from the rain, they took one look at each other and folded over each other, laughing. They stumbled the rest of the way to the ramen shop, at least having the conscientiousness to look sheepish when the shop’s owner looked at their drenched frames.

Soobin felt dizzy with the feeling, like his heart and head were all the way up in those cloudy skies. Even with the rain pouring over them, the sound it made when it hit the pavement was nothing compared to all of the fun and joy coming from Yeonjun’s laughter. 

It was like a rainbow in the sky. He wanted to climb it with Yeonjun, twirl in Yeonjun’s company, he wanted to keep this dance between them, he wanted to listen to this song in the rain and be dizzy forever for feeling as good as it did.

**Winter.**

“Spin me around,” Yeonjun said, to which Soobin had dutifully indulged. He took the other’s gloved hand and held it over Yeonjun’s head, covering his shy laugh with a hand when the other dramatically spun. 

“Um?” Soobin barely asked, and when Yeonjun had clicked his tongue and reached for Soobin’s hand again, he didn’t hesitate.

“Spin me around again,” Yeonjun had demanded, cheeks puffy from being squished up by his scarf, and just as requested, Soobin twirled Yeonjun around. 

It was cold, snowy just like when they’d first met. They were on an evening walk after having eaten their body weight in meat earlier. The entire city was lit up with holiday decorations, which was something that Soobin didn’t like to miss out on. Admiring the lights was like a tradition that he’d made for himself each year, but this time, he had Yeonjun beside him.

“You’re pretty, hyung,” Soobin had smiled, holding Yeonjun’s hand properly when he was done twirling on the still slippery floor. Yeonjun had trusted in Soobin to not let him fall like on that morning at the waffle place all those many days ago. The shop speakers played holiday music, filled with chimes and bright things about this and that, but Soobin and Yeonjun liked to dance to their own song.

“Thank you,” Yeonjun grinned, making a little kissy face at Soobin, who’d just laughed it off and tugged him closer. They liked to hold each other around the waists. Between them, the puffiness of their jackets and scarves felt like they were tangling themselves in something warm and comfortable.

“Are you going to explain?” Soobin asked, rocking the two of them back and forth on their feet. They danced around a little less now, the motions becoming so common between them that it was normal. Soobin wasn’t so shy with affection, and Yeonjun definitely wasn’t, especially with how the two of them developed their feelings for each other.

“I just want to dance,” Yeonjun shrugged, swaying along with Soobin. “I want to sing. There’s too many reasons to list, Soobin-ah.”

There were so many reasons to sing and dance.

It was when Yeonjun became so embarrassed that he turned into Soobin’s shoulder for comfort, or how he shared his secrets and insecurities with him without expecting Soobin to try and fix all of his problems. The truth was, Yeonjun was comforted with just having someone listen to him, and Soobin wanted to be that person forever, to listen to Yeonjun’s song. 

It was when Soobin laughed so hard that his dimples became the deepest caves on the planet, and how he scrunched his nose when he tried to hide back his proud smiles. When he was feeling overwhelmed and wanted to stay at home, when it became too rough to even leave the apartment, it was how Soobin readily accepted Yeonjun into his home and knew that even on the days where doing the simplest tasks were difficult, he would still be there.

That was their song and dance, a rhythm so full in their chests that it made their heads dizzy with its love and care. Sometimes when they held hands, they met in their souls instead, bubbling pop songs and R&B. Sometimes, it was just days like this, with cheesy holiday songs in shitty shop speakers blaring overhead. Sometimes it was standing in the snow, standing under the warm lights and being cold together in the winter’s chill.

Soobin smiled, ducking his head down and digging his cold nose into the other’s covered neck. In their little corner between the shops, Soobin could feel his heart continue to sing. When they held each other, it was a full embrace, and when they swayed to the holiday music, it came without a second thought.

“Okay, Yeonjun hyung. I’ll sing and dance with you.”

When they had made it back to Yeonjun’s apartment, as it had been a little closer for the both of them from where they’d gone out to walk, they changed into warm pajamas and socks, and crowded themselves around the teeny kitchen counter to make their third cup of hot chocolate for the day. 

Despite the snow, they stayed by the balcony door, like they couldn’t help but be in the face of the moon. “I think I have an answer for you by the way, Soobin-ah,” Yeonjun had said, completely relaxed as they watched even thicker clumps of snow fall over the city.

“What question did I ask?” Soobin hummed, loosely holding Yeonjun around the waist. The two of them, with their hot drinks in their hands, were comfortable this way.

“It wasn’t really a question,” Yeonjun shrugged, peeling himself away from Soobin and shuffling his feet all the way to the couch. “Well actually…? No, It was something I asked, and then I asked  _ you _ for an answer, but you told me to figure it out myself.” He pat the space beside him for Soobin to follow. “Do you remember?”

Soobin scrunched his nose, but found himself folded up on the couch with Yeonjun, ditching his mug of hot cocoa so he could keep his cold feet up on the cushions. They weren’t strangers to cuddling like this, but it still made Soobin’s heart race every time. “Oh god. Are you talking about the Instagram post thing?” He groaned.

Yeonjun laughed, only gathering Soobin as best as he could into his arms. “Yup, the whole person not being my type. Did you have a crush on me then? Did Soobinnie just  _ like _ me that much?”

“I did, and if you knew it, I want to formally thank you for not making me explode on the spot,” Soobin sighed, already having grown used to Yeonjun’s teasing tactics over time. He knew that the other wouldn’t be as mouthy when he put his fingers at the back of Yeonjun’s neck, holding him there with his warm palm. “Your type, Yeonjunnie,” Soobin whispered, when Yeonjun had gone a little too quiet.

“I don’t have to say it anymore, right?” Yeonjun had mumbled. They were only centimeters apart, and although everything was off in Yeonjun’s apartment, the ringing in their ears was an untranslated song made out of their shared pulse. “Or do you want me to say it.”

“I know you wouldn’t start what you can't finish,” Soobin grinned, like he already knew the answer.

“Of course it’s you,” Yeonjun replied. “You helped me to become this version of me. You’re my type, Soobin-ah.”

It was careful and quiet, and the kiss they shared was as sweet and fleeting as a chime of bells. “I sure hope so,” Soobin had murmured. “I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself to not be your type. Stay by my side, hyung?”

Yeonjun grinned, and the both of them laughed like there was a celebration going on. The joy they felt, as if they were silly kids, just sharing their secrets on the couch- the two of them hadn’t needed to say any of that in the first place. They had already known. “Yeah yeah, always, Soobin-ah.”

That was their soul’s most brilliant dance. 


End file.
